Small Sacrifices
by NicholasFawn
Summary: Naruto won't rest until he knows where Sasuke is. They have unresolved business, and the only thing that ever runs through his head is making Sasuke pay for his betrayal. But their inevitable reunion may not be what he expects...Eventual smut and Mpreg. Canon divergence.
1. Chapter 1

Things were hard after Sasuke left. It took Naruto longer to recover than anyone had expected. He was physically fine, they all thought, but the mental barriers were up. And when he finally opened his eyes again, he wasn't the Naruto he used to be. His life, his essence, boiled down to one thing, and one thing only: Find Sasuke.

The smiling and joking came back after a while, but his determination continued to boil beneath the surface. As much as he tried to act like things were normal, the ghost of what once was hung over everyone's shoulders. The past weighed Naruto down like an anvil. He trained relentlessly with Kakashi, and then Jiraiya, and then Kakashi again (his old team felt more like a new team, with their new addition of Sai). He went on any mission that could be connected to Orochimaru, even if it seemed like a stretch.

For a while, there was nothing.

He went about eight months without a single lead. He did mission after mission. It wasn't all bad. He met a lot of people. He did a lot of good for his village and the surrounding villages. He had a lot of good stories he'd be able to tell one day. But he never forgot why he was really doing what he was doing. And as time went on, his frustration built up as well.

His first real lead came as a surprise. Team 7 was on what appeared to be a simple search and rescue mission. Mint, a small village only about half the size of Konaha, had been ambushed by thieves. Their leader's daughter had been taken; kidnapped in the hopes of learning where the village's prized amulet was hidden. When the team found the girl, Kakashi asked about the amulet.

"Oh," the girl, Saku, had said. "That was stolen weeks ago."

When they asked for more information, she explained how she was awoken in the night by a hand over her mouth. She went unconscious and woke up again tied up in the woods with her father next to her. He was beaten up, and he'd given them the location of the amulet.

"Do you remember anything about them?" Sai had asked her.

"Yes. The man he had this...this tongue. And he was with a boy. Dark haired. About the same age as you."

Naruto's heart dropped into his stomach, and he lurched forward, grabbing the girl by her shoulders. She looked startled, her eyes darting over to Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai, but they looked at her with the same intensity.

"Tell me everything they said and did." Naruto's voice had remained steady and focused.

"W-Well, I didn't really-"

"Everything."

She didn't remember much, having been unconscious most of the time, so they spoke to her father instead. He said that they made sure not to let him hear anything, but when they left, they headed toward the mountains south of the village. He'd seemed surprised that they left him alive.

"Bigger fish to fry, I guess." He let loose a jovial laugh into the sky, seemingly unperturbed by the situation.

Naruto had been relieved upon learning the villagers had encountered Orochimaru and Sasuke and lived to tell the tale. Maybe the Sasuke he knew was still there. Maybe, just maybe, he could appeal to his logical and human side. If only he could just find him.

"What does the amulet do?" Kakashi had asked. "Why would so many people be interested in stealing it?"

"This village is small, now. We don't have a lot to offer, but in days past, people came from all over to learn from our elders. A man came, once upon a time, long before I was born. Hell, long before my grandparents were born. He forged an amulet that would contain the knowledge of the elders."

"Does it contain valuable information?"

"Oh, I'm quite sure it goes." The man stroked his gray beard and looked into the distance. "But it's been dormant for almost a century. Nobody knows how to harness its powers."

They'd left the village after that and made their way toward the southern mountains. They spent days looking for a trail or another lead. Naruto barely slept. He spent all his time searching for something, anything, that would lead them in the right direction. Sai didn't understand his dedication. Sakura became concerned when he seemed to mute any conversation that didn't have to do with Sasuke. Kakashi decided that after the third day of nothing, it was time to leave.

Pulling Naruto away from his search was no easy feat, but eventually he relented.

"It's pointless," Naruto said under his breath as they sat around the fire at their camp. "All this time, and we have nothing."

"That's not true," Kakashi responded, not looking up from his book. "We know what they want."

Naruto looked up, chewing on the side of his cheek. He took a second to ponder Kakashi's words before a smile broke out on his face. It started slow, but by the time it reached its full potential, he almost looked like the old Naruto again.

"Knowledge," he said, looking into the fire. "They're searching for information."

Their next lead came three months later in the form of an enemy they were fighting. He was a necromancer, using the reanimated corpses of the people he killed to build an army. He called himself Seizen. He was easy to take down. They used shadow clones to fight the corpses, and he surrendered when he saw that it was a group of them against him. He fell to his knees at Sakura's feet.

"I've failed." He slammed his fist into the ground. "They'll kill me. I've failed!"

"Who?" Sakura leaned down and placed a hand on the man's cheek. He was really more of a boy, Naruto noticed. He was much less intimidating without an army of dead bodies around him.

"The snake man...and the raven haired one," he gasped out through his tears. "They'll kill me, and my family. I won't let them!"

Before anyone could process his words, he'd pulled a poison capsule from his pocket and swallowed it. Team 7 jumped into action, trying to get him to regurgitate it so they could ask him something, anything. There was no doubt in their mind that he was talking about Sasuke and Orochimaru.

However, it was too late. His body lurched, and he began to foam at the mouth. Within minutes, he was gone.

Sai and Kakashi buried him while Naruto retreated into the surrounding forest. Sakura followed him.

"We'll find him, Naruto," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't know that."

"I know you, though. And I know you won't stop."

He looked down at the ground and sighed. "We'll work backwards and find out everywhere Seizen has been until we get a lead."

Sakura nodded and made her way back to Kakashi and Sai. Naruto stayed there, looking at the trees until well into the night.

They tracked Seizen's journey for almost a week until they came upon a ravaged village. Homes were burned, goods were stolen, bodies laid scattered through the streets. Survivors were so in shock they could barely speak, but one person managed to squeak out a single word, and it was all they needed.

"Dahlia," the girl choked out. The northernmost village in the region. Naruto left her there and took off, not even alerting his team as to what he knew or where he was going.

If he found Sasuke, he wanted to face him alone. It was his fight, and nobody else's.


	2. Fever Dreams

A/N: Before I get into the story, let me say something first. I've gotten SEVERAL messages about this. The description of the fic says "CANON DIVERGENCE" that means it doesn't follow the canon story in Naruto. I have seen EVERY episode of Naruto, so don't message me thinking you're teaching me something. This story is supposed to be different. It's not exactly an AU because it's in the same universe, but this story is going to be quite different. If you don't like that, well, there are literally THOUSANDS of other fics to choose from. That being said, I also got kind messages, and I appreciate them. Now that we got that out of the way, enjoy the story!

The Dahlia Village was a ghost town, and appeared to be for quite some time. Naruto wasn't so far gone that he didn't realize that taking off without his team wasn't the best idea. He didn't have food, his water canteen was empty, and if he was ambushed, he'd have no back up. He should have turned around and went back to his team, but he didn't.

In some of the houses, tables were overturned and cabinets ravaged, but in most of them, it seemed as if the people inside just stood up in the middle of what they were doing and walked away. There wasn't a single soul, living or dead, in the Dahlia village.

Naruto searched through a few homes, looking for food and water. The village was larger than he'd expected. He wouldn't be able to search through everything in one day. He figured his team would show up soon enough; he hadn't exactly tried to cover his tracks.

There wasn't a lot around, and he had to wonder what was so special about this village. It wasn't until he got to nearly the other side of the town that he saw it. A small fountain off to the left. He didn't notice it at first, but when he did, he thought it was a strange place for a fountain. It was off center and covered in ivy, but water flowed through the statue in the middle, landing in the surrounding pool. The statue was a young woman wearing a gown. Her eyes were downcast and her hands reached out beside her. The water flowed through her palms.

He walked up to it and saw an inscription engraved into the side. "Soul within soul, held with twine. Heart within heart, beating with mine." He shrugged and stuck his hands in, cupping them full of water. He drank it down in large gulps, quenching his thirst.

"This is pointless, isn't it?" he said, sitting on the edge of the fountain and looking into the sky. He smiled a little. Sakura would knock him out for taking off without warning. Sai would be relentless when they sparred, and Kakashi would give him low grade missions for a month.

He had so much waiting for him back home. He had friends who loved him; they had become his family. Why was he chasing this person who was never truly a friend to him anyway? He had begun making stupid decisions and putting himself at risk, and it needed to stop.

He stood from where he sat on the fountain, ready to make his way back to his team. If they were looking for him, he'd probably meet them halfway. He'd take the heat and then they could head back home. The thought of being at home made his heart sing, but as soon as he took a step, he fell to the ground.

His legs felt like mush, and when he tried to sit up, his head spun. What the hell, he thought before his vision went black.

He dreamt that he stood on a stage, his face painted and hair decorated like a maiko. His kimono was black with red and white fans embroidered all over it. He knew that symbol, and he didn't have to look into the audience to know that Sasuke would be sitting there. He looked anyway.

There he was, right in front of Naruto, his eyes staring and his hands sitting in his lap, balled into fists. Naruto's heart pounded; he could feel it through his whole body. Sasuke leaned forward, his sharingan activated. He looked through Naruto's soul and muttered under his breath, "...dance."

Naruto's body moved against his will, and suddenly there was a fan in each hand. He spun in place, his eyes latching back onto Sasuke's as soon as he made a full rotation.

"Dance." Sasuke stood from his seat. Once again, Naruto's body complied. He spun once more, this time holding the fans out and allowing them to catch the air. And once again, his eyes met with Sasuke's. This time, those red eyes were only inches from his. He was standing on the stage. Naruto's heart continued to pound, but he couldn't look away.

"DANCE." Naruto's body was no longer his. He spun and leapt and swung his hips, his heart racing all the while. He didn't get sore or tired; he just kept moving as the Uchiha watched him. He didn't know how long it carried on, but eventually his vision went black once again.

When he opened his eyes, his head throbbed and it seemed like he was looking through little pinholes. The trees hovering above him seemed a million miles away, and the sky was dim with the early evening sun. A face leaned over his, and it was blurry for a few seconds before coming into focus.

Sasuke.

He tried to move, to scream, to do anything, but he felt so weak. Black eyes pierced his. He'd never felt so helpless before. All this time searching, and he'd miss his chance.

"He drank from the fountain." The familiar voice rang through his ears and he tried to cry out. His body remained paralyzed.

"What does it do?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"No idea," Sasuke muttered. "Take some of the water."

"Kill him, and let's keep moving," another voice he didn't recognize said. "We need to get out of here before someone shows up looking for him."

"No," Sasuke said, leaning his face close to Naruto's. "Not like this."

He closed his eyes for what felt like only a few seconds, but when he opened them again, he was in Konoha Hospital. Sakura sat in a chair next to him, flicking through what seemed to be one of Kakashi's books. She had a cringe on her face. When she sensed he was awake, she jumped from her seat and gripped the front of his gown.

"You little twerp!" she shouted. "We were worried sick about you!"

"Sorry," he choked out, his throat dry. "It was stupid, I know."

"You're damn right it was." She sat back down in a huff. "I'm glad you're okay, though. We didn't know what was wrong. What the hell happened?"

"I don't really know," Naruto said, sitting up in his bed. "I took a drink of water and then I fell over."

"Poisoned, probably," Sakura said, tapping her chin. "But we couldn't identify anything."

"I saw him," he said, turning to look at her. "I woke up for a minute and he was there. I wanted to fight him, but I couldn't move."

Sakura's eyes shot to his. She searched his face, looking to see if he was joking. When she saw that he wasn't, her eyes looked sad.

"Oh, Naruto," she sighed. "It was probably just a fever dream."

"Maybe," he said, sliding back down in his bed.

She launched into a diatribe about how Sai was getting under her skin. Naruto tried to listen, but his mind went back to Sasuke. He knew what he saw, and he knew the difference between dream and reality. He didn't say that to her, though. He let her talk. Eventually his mind drifted away from thoughts of the other man, and he began to listen. He laughed as she described how Sai had ruined one of her favorite shirts. Later that evening, she even brought him ramen, and it lifted his mood considerably.

As he lay in bed that night, he thought of Sasuke again. Though at first he felt like he missed his chance, his mind thought back to Sasuke's words.

"No. Not like this."

It took a weight off of Naruto's shoulders, but it didn't click until seconds before he fell asleep. He didn't have to keep searching. He was free of that burden. By Sasuke's own admission, when the time was right, he'd come back and face Naruto once and for all.


	3. Side Effects

When Naruto was released from the hospital a little over a week later, he was greeted at his apartment by Hinata. She had a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She hadn't noticed him approaching, as her back was turned, but he called out to her as he got closer.

"Hinata!" he trotted up to her and she turned to face him.

"Naruto," she said, her cheeks turning red. "These are for you."

He took them from her hands before unlocking his door and stepping inside; she followed him in. The apartment was small. It had little more than a bed and a nightstand, but it was all Naruto needed. He set the flowers on his nightstand and placed his other belongings on his bed. Hinata stood near the doorway, shifting from foot to foot.

"Something wrong?" he asked her. "Come inside."

"It's just...what happened to you, Naruto?" she asked. "How did you get poisoned?"

"Word travels fast." He smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "I drank from a weird fountain. It serves me right, I guess. It gave me this crazy dream though." He didn't mention seeing Sasuke.

"What about?"

"Just…" he paused, afraid that if he spilled the details they would reveal the inner workings of his mind, and he hadn't even worked out what the dream meant. "Trust me, it was weird."

"Well," she said, smiling. "I just came by to see how you were. I-I'll go now."

"Thanks for the flowers," he said as she stepped out and closed the door behind her. It was obvious Hinata was infatuated with him, and not long ago he might've been interested. Now, however, his mind was preoccupied. He wouldn't want to get into a relationship with someone if he couldn't give all of himself to them. Hinata didn't deserve that.

His mind still felt foggy, and he didn't feel like thinking, so he got comfortable in his bed and quickly drifted off.

His sleep was dreamless.

He woke to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He could hear rain pouring outside. His favorite weather.

"Come in!" he shouted, not wanting to get up from his bed.

Sakura pushed the door open and went into the apartment, soaked through her clothes and shivering. "It's a mess out there!"

"There are towels over there." He pointed toward the corner of the room where a bunch of clothes, towels, and what looked like bandages sat in a pile on the floor.

"No thanks," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "And you shouldn't just tell people to come in willy nilly. I could've been anyone. I could've come here to attack you."

"My attackers don't usually knock," Naruto said, sitting up and crossing his arms. He wished he would've changed out of his clothes before falling asleep. He always prefered to sleep in just a shirt and shorts.

"Good point," Sakura said, perching on the end of his bed and turning to face him. "We have to talk."

At her serious tone, all thoughts of his sleep clothes emptied from his head. Did she know about his dream? Did she know he saw Sasuke? She would be pissed he didn't tell her. But she had no way of knowing about that. He was getting himself worked up without even knowing what she had to say. He took a deep breath and tried to focus.

"It's about the water you drank," she said. She seemed to be holding back a smile. "We were able to get a team out there to take a sample and do some tests, along with some research on the village, on Tsunade's order, of course."

"So you know what it is?" Dammit, he was going to go crazy, wasn't he? The poison would slowly eat him from the inside out. His limbs would pop off like a doll's. His heart would fall out of his ass.

"There won't be any adverse side effects," she said, breaking into a full on grin. "Unless you consider pregnancy to be a side effect, that is."

"Excuse me?" It didn't compute in Naruto's head.

"According to a legend in that village," Sakura explained, the grin still on her face. "Drinking from that fountain can make anyone, man or woman, fertile. There are tons of stories about men having babies."

"What the…?" Naruto's brow furrowed and he scratched his head. He then looked at Sakura suspiciously. "You're messing with me. This is revenge for taking off without you."

"I couldn't make something like this up," she said, laughing. "We're trying to track down some villagers, but it doesn't seem like we're gonna have any luck. Still, don't go hopping into bed with any men, or we might have a little Naruto running around."

Even Naruto had to laugh at that. What a ridiculous thought. "I'll keep that in mind, Sakura."

She smiled and stood from the bed. "I should get going. See you in training tomorrow."

"Ugh." Naruto flopped back and tossed his arm across his eyes. "Kakashi is gonna ride my ass to death for taking off like that."

"Not literally, I hope," Sakura said, laughter in her voice.

Naruto threw his pillow at her.

The next day, Naruto was run ragged for hours while the rest of his team (and even some other teams) created every obstacle they could think of for him. He was ambushed and attacked from every angle. There were traps set for him and hurdles to climb over everywhere he turned. By the end of it, he could barely stand. He laid on the dirt ground and looked up at the sky, his heart beating in his chest.

"That'll teach you," Kakashi said, leaning over his exhausted form. His tone was light hearted, and he seemed amused by the whole situation.

Naruto couldn't get mad; he brought it on himself, but he was annoyed. Did other teams really have to get involved? He could take his punishment like a man but he didn't think it was anyone else's job or business. "Can I go home now?"

"You're dismissed for the day, but don't expect the rest of the week to be any easier."

He stood from the ground on shaky legs and started to make his way home. He went through alleys and yards to avoid seeing anyone he knew, but, of course, Kiba managed to catch up with him anyway. It wasn't so bad, though, he hadn't really had a chance to talk to his friend recently.

"I heard about what happened at training today." Kiba laughed and patted Naruto's shoulder. "Wish I could've been there."

"Asshole," Naruto said, smiling.

"I also heard about the little mishap during your mission."

"Oh, dammit!" Naruto sighed. "Can't Sakura keep her mouth shut?"

"I actually heard it from Sai," Kiba corrected. "I just came to make sure you don't get yourself knocked up."

Naruto shoved Kiba, a smile on his face. "Please, that's a load of bullshit. There's no way that's real."

"Probably not," Kiba said as they approached Naruto's apartment. "But Tsunade seems concerned enough about it."

"Besides," Naruto said, stopping in front of his door. "All we do is work. Nobody has time to...do anything to get pregnant."

Kiba laughed at Naruto's vagueness but didn't comment on it. "I'll see you tomorrow, man."

When Naruto stepped into his apartment, his foot landed on a folded piece of paper that had been slid underneath his door. Though the sun was setting, he could see his name written on the outside. He picked it up and unfolded it, and his heart dropped into his stomach: Sasuke's handwriting. It hadn't changed at all in the time since he'd been gone. Naruto had to take a deep breath before reading.

"Naruto. Himitsu village. Four days."

There wasn't a question about whether or not he would go. It was going to happen. Naruto realized that if he left that very night, he could make it to the village a day early. He packed a small bag for himself (mostly food and weapons), filled his canteen with clean water, and left his apartment. He couldn't tell anyone, for obvious reasons, and he had to make sure he wasn't seen, so he wrapped a cloak around himself and made his way toward the outskirts of Konoha.

Was this a trap? Probably. Would that stop him? Not a chance.


End file.
